The Left government in Kerala on Thursday said it was waiving its GST share and royalty on raw materials for construction of the Kollam-Sengottai Greenfield Highway (NH 744) and Ernakulam Bypass (NH 544) projects on the central government’s request.
The announcement was made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on social media posts on X and Facebook. Vijayan said the government was waiving Rs 741.35 crores worth of GST share and royalty to ensure both the NH 744 and NH 544 become a reality at the earliest.
“The LDF Govt has approved Rs 741.35 Cr waiver on royalty for raw materials and State GST for the Kollam-Sengottai Greenfield Highway (NH 744) and Ernakulam Bypass (NH 544) projects at the Centre’s request.”
The GoK aims to realise enhanced road connectivity and infrastructure ASAP by relinquishing this financial remittance. This move adds to the government’s legacy, which includes spending Rs 5,580.73 cr on land acquisition for NH 66 development,” he said on X. Vijayan said that in all other states, the cost of land acquisition for national highways is borne by the central government.”
But, when the central government withdrew from it in Kerala citing the high cost of land in the state, the LDF government took over the helm for the development of NH 66 by handing over in advance 25 percent of the land acquisition cost to the National Highways Authority,” he said in his Facebook post.
The LDF government is committed to solving the traffic problem in the state by completing the construction of the national highways as soon as possible, he added.